Report: T-Mobile leads 5G availability, reach
September 22, 2022
T-Mobile leads 5G availability, reach
A report from research firm Opensignal finds that 5G users on T-Mobile US spent the largest proportion of time with an active 5G connection, and they also found a 5G signal in the highest proportion of locations. The report analyses the 5G mobile network experience across six key measures – 5G Availability, 5G Reach, 5G Download Speed, 5G Upload Speed, 5G Games Experience and 5G Video Experience.
T-Mobile US wins 5G Availability with a score of 40.4 per cent and 5G Reach with 7.8 points on a 10 point scale. The operator also saw the second greatest improvement in 5G Download Speed between the first half of 2021 and 2022 — an increase of 98.9 per cent, 5.2 percentage points behind the front- runner, Croatia’s HT.
“The latest awards from Opensignal further prove that our early bets in 5G are paying off for our customers with the biggest, fastest and most reliable 5G in America … and also the best 5G reach and availability anywhere on the planet,” said Neville Ray, President of Technology at T-Mobile. “We’re out in front of the competition, and we’re not looking back.”
Opensignal users observed the fastest average 5G download speeds using SK telecom with 469.6 Mbps. Both South Korea’s other operators. LG U+ and KT, are 5G Global Leaders for 5G Download Speed, with scores of 429.6 Mbps and 381.9 Mbps, respectively.
KT and SK telecom are 5G Global Winners for 5G Games Experience with statistically tied scores of 90.5-90.9 points on a 100 point scale. Fellow South Korean operator LG U+ is a 5G Global Leader for multiplayer gaming using 5G and is in joint third place, alongside Switzerland’s Salt, T-Mobile Czech Republic and Hong Kong’s csl.
Following a three-way statistical tie, users had the best 5G video streaming experience using Tele2, Telia — both from Sweden — and on Slovenia’s Telemach. Therefore, the three operators are 5G Global Winners for 5G Video Experience with statistically tied scores of 82.8-84.1 points on a 100 point scale.
Telia is the sole 5G Global winner for 5G Upload Speed with a blisteringly fast score of 50.9 Mbps. The operator wins by an impressive margin of at least 7.5 Mbps ahead of five operators sharing second place — Czech Republic’s T-Mobile, Norway’s Telia and Telenor, Swedish Tele2, and the Netherlands’ KPN — with statistically tied scores of 41.1-43.3 Mbps.
According to Opensignal, 5G has had an incredibly positive impact on users’ average download speeds. Users on Israeli operator Hot Mobile reported the most impressive improvement — 1183.3 per cent — in their average download speeds with 5G compared to 4G, followed by those on Chile’s Movistar (1084.5 per cent), the UAE’s du (1051.9 per cent) and Israel’s Partner (1014.7 per cent).
5G Global Impact is the percentage improvement users experienced with 5G compared with 4G. Five operators have managed the impressive feat of being recognised in all four 5G Global Impact categories: Israel’s Hot Mobile and Partner, Globe and Smart in the Philippines, along with the UAE’s du. All ranked in 5G Global Impact for Download Speed, Upload Speed, Video Experience and Games Experience.
Globe Philippines users had the largest improvement in Video Experience with 5G. Their video experience score improved by 89 per cent. In addition, Globe had the second highest Games Experience — 5G Global Impact score, with users experiencing an improvement of 39.6 per cent with 5G.
NTT docomo and SoftBank are the only operators to have been placed as 5G Global Rising Stars across four categories. This means users saw a tremendous improvement in 5G experience between the first half of 2021 and 2022. They are both rising stars for 5G Availability, 5G Reach and 5G Games Experience. In addition, NTT docomo is a 5G Global Rising Star for 5G Download Speed, while SoftBank is one for 5G Upload Speed.